The Consultants
by angelofjoy
Summary: This is a set of one shot stories all following in the aftermath of the Champ Box case. Mainly focusing on Steve and his relationship with the people he trusts enough to bring into the case and some of the trouble they may get into along the way. Danny also plays a huge role as the reasoning voice to contradict Steve's ideas. Please R&R.
1. Partner Parallels

**_A/N: This compilation of stories is going to be primarily based on the secondary characters of Five-O. All of the men and women that have showed up to help the team and have captured or stuck a chord in all of us. I'm hoping to keep these as one shot stories, but any time I feel like the others need a little love, this is where you will find their adventure. I'm calling them The Consultants in much the same spirit as The X-Files' - Lone Gunmen and Supernatural's - Ghost-facers. Occasionally the main cast will pop in to make appearances, but rest assured, these stories are about the B-Team not the A-Team._**

**_I hope you like them! Thank you so much for reading. Comments are always welcome!_**

Chapter 1: Partner Parallels

Commander Steve McGarrett walked into the Five-O bullpen, one morning, followed by his new friend and overly eager house crasher, Jerry Ortega.

Jerry had been searching around Steve's house - with Steve's blessings - after having found co-ordinates on the Champ Box that Steve had overlooked. Steve was a curious as a cat to see what else was hidden in his home and if it was conspiracy related he knew that Jerry would be the one to find it, and get to the bottom of it, but on this morning Jerry was looking for something a little more high-tech and had asked the Five-O commander for access to the task-forces' Smart System.

The request seemed innocent enough to Steve, but as they arrived in the bullpen and Jerry moved excitedly toward the equipment he'd seen before but had not touched, he was stopped by the death stair that was shot in his directions by the Five-O hacker in residence, and acquaintance acquired by Detective Williams.

"Whoa there stranger, don't touched the hardware." Toast warned.

"Steve said I could use it." Jerry retorted childishly.

"That's why I called you in this morning," Steve added with a dismissive wave toward Toast.

"Ah, so, what Steve meant was you can place an inquiry with the professionals and I'll see what I can do for you." Toast explained.

"Steve, this is very sensitive research I'm going to be doing. I can't trust someone I don't know." Jerry whined as he spun on the commander - before Steve could escape to his office.

"Jerry, this is Toast. Toast, this is my friend Jerry." Steve stated and back away slightly from the two angry men. "There, now you two are no longer strangers. I hope that you two can find a way to resolve this conflict and work together. Jerry, Toast has been working the Champ Box case for a long time. He's well versed and very competent. We've used him on several cases. I assure you, he's trust worthy." Steve added and brightened up as Danny walked in.

"Do you have anything new for us?" Danny asked as he arrived on the scene in the bullpen. "You must if Toast is here."

"Danny, thank God! Can you deal with this. I have a lot to do and the morning check in with the Governor to get done. I really appreciate it." Steve stated shook his partners hand as Danny looked at him in confusion, and then he rushed off to his office.

"A hand shake? Really? What the Hell McGarrett?" Danny yelled after his partner.

"Love you too, Danno." Steve waved and shut the door.

"Sure. Right. Appreciate isn't the word I'd use for this!" Danny stated sarcastically as he continued yelled at Steve closed office door.

Danny then turned on the two men who believed that the sheer force of their will would make the other relent and move away from the scared vessel that was the Smart Table.

"My office. Now!" Danny yelled and pointed at the empty space.

"Whoa, calm down Skinner!" Jerry and Toast stated together and then jumped at the shock of hearing the reference from each other.

"Don't give me none of your sass, I don't have time for this. Now step away from the Smart Table and take a seat in my office." Danny ordered.

The two men obeyed and scuttled off toward Danny's office.

"This is just how I wanted to start my day." Danny stated sarcastically and cursed Steve under his breath. "I haven't even had coffee yet."

5-0

Once the two men were safely settled in his office and Danny has paced around them for a long moment looking as menacing as he could muster at the early hour. After and audible sigh, from Danny, the two men both moved to speak, but Danny silenced them again with a glare that screamed 'don't push me' and then spoke.

"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen, for just one moment, I have to speak briefly with Commander McGarrett about this...inconvenience. You'll stay here." Danny ordered but both men defiantly move in protest. "You'll stay right where you are or I'll hand cuff you both to the chairs." Danny threatened.

"They aren't even bolted to the floor. We can still leave." Toast retorted defiantly.

"Fine, I'll handcuff you to the chairs and each other and I'll lock the door, if you want to act like children about it. This is your time out." Danny added threateningly and saw the two men relent as their eyes dropped to the floor. "Good. You two just sit tight, and I'll be right back." He added with an overly sarcastic smile and left the room.

"The nerve of some people," Jerry huffed as he sat in his chair, crossed his arms and sulked.

"That's just how Jersey is," Toast sighed. "There is no use fighting it. Plus he has a pre-teen. He knows discipline."

5-0

"What the hell were you thinking?" Danny yelled as he stormed into Steve's office - and the two men could hear the force of Danny's yelling through two closed doors and the expanse of the bullpen. They watched silently through the open blinds, but Danny's voice seemed to quiet after the initial yelling.

"I figured that Toast and Jerry could work together - to help me solve the mystery of the Champ Box - while Five-O does what they usually, and were hired, to do. I pride myself on being a good judge of character - most of the time - and those two just seem like they would make a really good team. Hacker and Conspiracy Theorist - I'm sure I saw that one TV or something. Besides, you're always saying we have to deal the the here and now, and this frees us up to carry on with police work. Our job is to protect and serve these islands, so why not pass this stuff off to people like them who do seem to live in that world already." Steve explained calmly.

"This isn't a TV show!" Danny huffed. "You just don't see it do you?" he gasped as the realization of the weight of the situation hit him and he had to sit down in front of his partner to make his point and emphasize the gravity of the situation.

"What am I missing, Daniel, enlighten me." Steve looked across the desk and was as sarcastic as Danny could ever be.

"Why did you think they would work well together?" Danny asked trying to get to the truth and prove his point all at the same time.

"Because, what they do is the same thing." Steve answered.

"Not really. In your previous line of work, maybe they would have been dangerous and lumped together for terminations sake, but they really aren't the same." Danny tried to be as gentle as possible.

"Then why don't you enlighten me, Daniel?"

"Because you don't listen to me, Steven."

"I'm listening."

"Well, you see, Toast is a hacker, but he was trained in a much more legal realm. He deals with computer systems and making them do what he wants them to do. He doesn't find needles in haystacks, he makes them and then he threads them when no one is looking."

Steve looked at Danny and was full of confusion.

"And, well, our friend Jerry is a conspiracy theorist. He believes in the needle in the hay stack with all his heart and soul, and his goal is to prove that it exists when people are saying the exact opposite."

"How is that different? By your reasoning, they are both dealing with the needles."

Danny face-palmed himself knowing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with Steve now that he'd set his heart on those two men working together.

"It means that, sure, they may work toward a common goal but they are from two different worlds."

"Like you and I."

Danny fell silent.

"Look, Danno, I just want them to work together to find the needle that is my mother, and all the stuff that she's trying so desperately to hide from me in this giant web that is the haystack. I think that pairing those two up is the best way to do that, so what I need you to do is convince them, or threaten them, into believing that they are just like Mulder and Scully, and that the truth is out there for them to find - together."

"What, why do I have to do that?"

"Because, Jerry is crashing at my place right now and he'd been watching a lot of TV - one show in particular, and I think that by using that show as an analogy for them, it may get him off my case. Also, you're my friend, so you can be that authority for me, while I try to convince Jerry that he'll always be useful to us, but get the hell out of my house."

"Okay, pal, whatever you say, but you think that I'm the right person to get them to work together?"

"Yes."

"How so, and make it good." Danny stated and his voice was full of venom. "Because, you haven't even given me a change to have coffee yet."

"I don't know why I think you are the man for the job. Just do what I did to get you to work with me and I'll go out and get you coffee."

"You want me to get them shot today as initiation into working together?"

"No." Steve said with a shake of his head. "Dangle a case in front of their faces and then take it away from them, and do it in such a way that it seems like a conspiracy against the wellbeing of this island."

"But you didn't actually want me on the case. There wasn't any dangling, except for you off the side of a shipping container. You press-ganged me into this."

"And I'm doing it again. And, for the record, I did want you on the case because as soon as you left my dad's garage, I realized you were the only other man who had devoted all his time to the case. I needed you."

"I feel so important." Danny mocked.

"Just, give the guys a common goal, and tell them that it's been elusive to us. That should be enough to hook them."

"Okay, so what am I dangling in front of them, exactly?"

"Doris."

"But I don't actually have Doris, because she's off playing super spy while her son thinks he can be a super SEAL and order me around."

"Exactly, and that will remain the plan. The truth is out there my friend, now go set them on the right path, and I'll get coffee and hopefully land us a case." Steve stated proudly.

"Who's been watching way too much TV - you or Jerry?"

"It's a good show."

"Right." Danny said with a shake of his head. "What does that even mean?"

"Never mind. Just one of these days watch the X-files and you'll get it. Now go and get them settled while I see what the Governor has for us this week." Steve stated and jumped out of his chair and headed for the door.

"Don't forget my coffee! You owe me!" Danny called after him.

"I got it."

5-0

"All right gentlemen, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. It's time to clear up a few things." Danny said as he walked into his office and around his desk before taking his seat and facing the odd couple before him. "We apologize for the inconvenience. I am now well aware of the situation at hand. Firstly, Steve wasn't very eloquent when he introduced you, so let's start off on the right foot." Danny over exaggerated his every word and it was clear that the smile he'd plastered on his face was as fake as his tone. "Adam Charles, also know as Toast here and around the islands, this is Steve's very good friend Jerry Ortega. He's a conspiracy theorist and he's helped Five-O with a few recent cases. Jerry, this is Toast, our resident hacker. If we need information, or if something happens to out physical system here in the office, Toast is the man we call. He also cracks any other system we may need to get into in a hurry, and because of our Immunity and Means, we are able contract outside of regular HPD channels. He's become somewhat of a Five-O fixture."

The two men turned and looked at each other with intrigue.

"Your mission, gentlemen, should you choose to accept it, is simple. Steve would like the two of you to work together with the assistance of all of our technology, and Immunity and Means, to find former CIA agent Doris McGarrett. We believe that she may have returned to the CIA and we are convinced that while she was with us, she told us nothing but lies. Steve would like for you to crack all of her codes, hack all of her channels and find out what exactly is she hiding. We here at Five-O have affectionately dubbed this the Champ Box Case and it was started by Jack McGarrett, who was investigating code name Shelburne - who turned out to be his wife who faked her own death and disappeared when Steve was only a teenager. That woman is Doris."

The two men sat in shocked silence as they hung on Danny's ever word.

"We believe that the two of you, with your very different fields of study, may be able to hone in on Doris and the mysteries of the Champ Box where we have turned up dead ends." Danny concluded, folded his hands on his desk and smiled dramatically.

"Why do I feel like there is more to this than you are telling us?" Jerry asked.

"Because you are paranoid, and there is," Danny answered and continued to smile.

"Why do I feel like you are feeding us to the sharks?" Toast asked.

"I'm not, but Steve may be." Danny answered again.

"Are we going to be in danger if we look into this?" Toast asked fearfully.

"I would assume so," Danny continued to smile unnervingly, "but I trust that you both would know how to cover your track, or better yet, don't make any."

Both men looked to each other and swallowed hard.

"If you don't want to take on this case, that's just fine with me. I don't particularly agree with Steve for bringing you into this. Toast you can go back to your commercial computer repair and we'll call you back when we need you. Jerry, you can head back to your mother's basement because no one is going to look for you there. If you are uncomfortable with what Steve is asking of you, that is completely understandable, but you'll be cut off from our equipment if you don't take the case."

"We'll take the case." Both men jumped and agreed.

"I knew you'd come around." Danny smiled again. "Toast you have access to all the work we've already done and Jerry you have the Champ Box and access to Steve's house, and I'm assuming you have outside sources as well. Anything you find, report directly to Steve."

"Not to you?" Jerry asked.

"Hell no, this is Steve vendetta. He can deal with you from this point on. My only task was to get you two to work together." Danny stated dismissively.

"You're not in the least bit curious?" Toast asked.

Danny shook his head.

"Why not? What are you not telling us?" Jerry asked suspiciously.

"Look, this case brought Five-O together, and it nearly tore us apart. We're already in it way too deep. It got me shot on my first day as Steve's partner, and I believe that we have exhausted all our avenues until we can find Doris and make her tell us the truth. All the suspects that we were in search of for the murder of Jack McGarrett are dead or in custody. The man who contracted the kill is in a max security prison on the mainland and he isn't telling us anything. As far as I'm concerned, Five-O is finished with this case until new evidence can come to light - that's where you come in. It's up to you now."

"Oh."

Danny nodded, "now off you go, Mulder and Scully, because I've got paper work to file and a partner to wait for.

"We're more like the Lone Gunmen than Mulder and Scully." Jerry stated.

"Yeah, you and Steve are Mulder and Scully." Toast added with a nod.

"I don't even know what that means, it was Steve analogy." Danny said with a shake of his head.

"You're Scully." Toast and Jerry stated together.

"And you'll be affectionately know as The Consultants."

"That's a little mainstream for what we're doing, don't you think?" Jerry asked.

"I have named you, it is done. Now Steve said that the truth is out there and my job was to get you two to go out there and find it." Danny said and waved them away.

"Oh, it is out there, Detective," Jerry stated as he stood and Toast followed, "and you had better beware. If you are in as deep as you say you are, then there is no escaping it now."

Danny looked at the two very mismatched partners questioningly.

"Trust no on, Detective, not even yourself." Jerry added and left the room with Toast.

"First Max, then Lori, what is Steve doing, assembling a circus?" Danny asked himself and then shook off his displeasure as Steve walked back into the bullpen with coffee in his hands.


	2. The Cupboard Under The Stairs

**_A/N: So I think I need to change the description of this prompt set to get more people to read it. Thank you to those of you who did take the time to check it out and comment on the first story. For you I have a second, and it has a little Harry Potter vibe to go along with it._**

**_Enjoy!_**

Chapter 2: The Cupboard Under The Stairs.

Steve McGarrett was sitting in his officer sending off emails and wrapping up his current case load when his friends, and resident conspiracy theorist, walked in and stood before him. Steve looked up from what he was doing just as Jerry cross his arms over his chest.

"Um...can I help you, Jerry?" Steve asked in confusion.

"I need your house keys." Jerry demanded.

"Jerry, you just moved out. Why do you need back in?" Steve asked suspiciously - this time he cross his arms over his chest and looked sternly at the man before him.

"Toast and I need to investigate and so we need to be in the space where it all began."

"So the garage?"

"No, the whole house. We think your dad was hiding something - more things - in addition to the Champ Box."

"I've been through that house - every inch of it. There is nothing else to find."

"Were you the one that found the co-ordinates on the bottom of the Champ Box because of the wrong colour paint?"

"No..."

"Then you don't know what to look for. Give me the keys!" Jerry ordered and held out his hand as Danny appeared in the doorway.

Steve relented and handed the man before him the keys to his house. Jerry then turned, greeted Danny cheerfully, and then left the office all together.

"So, how did that feel?" Danny asked with a gleeful look in his eyes.

"Uncomfortable."

"Now you know how I feel when you demand that I hand over the keys to my car." Danny stated as he pointed at his partner.

"That's not the uncomfortable bit!" Steve said with a shake of his head. "Jerry said that he and Toast were going to go and investigate at my house. Now, I'm sure that I've found everything pertaining to my dad's case, but they think there is more to it than that, and now I'm worried about what they might actually find. Also, I'm dreading the state in which I might find my house when they are done and I go home."

"Hope you hid your porn!" Danny laughed and waved as he walked away.

"Whoa, wait, aren't you the least little bit curious?" Steve asked as he dashed after his partner.

"Nope," Danny answered as Steve caught up to him at the Smart Table, "because I trust that you did find everything and that the case is closed as far as it involves me. Anything else after the fact is your own curiosity and you're the one that got those two involved in the first place. So leave me out of this. We would have found everything when we fixed up the place after the General Pak incident, and you didn't find anything in the walls or elsewhere in the house when you were doing the repairs - did you?"

"No, I wasn't really looking, but I'm sure that something stuck behind a wall would have jumped out at me. I tore the garage apart for more evidence and found nothing."

"Then I don't know what you are worried about. Let the kids have their fun and get it out of their systems and then once they are convinced that your house is clean you wont have to worry about that anymore. They'll move on when they get bored. Trust me - it's what kids do."

Steve nodded at his partner and returned to his office. The rest of the day was quite uneventful, yet productive, for the Five-Os and with no new cases looming and the day wrapping up, Steve logged off of the computer and headed for home. He arrived to find Jerry's vehicle still out front.

As he walked up to the house, Steve could have sworn that he'd seen Jerry peeking out of the front windows and then disappearing again. Steve sighed, and with on hand on his weapon, he opened the door and walked in.

Standing before him, leaning on the post that made up the bannister of his staircase that lead up to the second level of the house, Steve found Jerry.

"You look guilty. What trouble have you gotten yourself into?" Steve asked as he scanned the living room area and found that it looked like everything was in its place. "What did you find?"

"Nothing," Jerry said and Steve was even more suspicious.

"Where's Toast?" Steve asked sounding like a parent scolding a naughty child.

"Um...well...he's..."

"Spit it out, you're not fooling anyone." Steve ordered.

"He's in the panic room." Jerry confessed and lowered his eyes.

"I don't have a panic room." Steve stated.

"Well what do you call the space under the stairs?" Jerry asked.

"I call it the storage space under the stairs," Steve answered skeptically.

"Oh, so that stuff under there wasn't hidden?" Jerry asked.

"No," Steve answered with a shake of his head. "That was just crap that I didn't feel like moving into the attic."

"There's an attic?" Toast asked excitedly as he appeared out of the cupboard under the stairs.

"Yes, Potter, there is an attic." Steve mocked.

"Interesting..." Toast stated as he crawled out and pulled his laptop with him. "What about under the house?" he asked.

"There's nothing under the house except pipes, the dugout and the cement slab that most of the house and garage as settled on.

"Are you sure?" Toast asked skeptically. "Have you gone down there to look?"

"Not since the water heater went all wonky about a year ago. Aside for that, what's on the house plans, is what's under the house. The door to the dugout is accessible if you want to go check everything out."

"We've already been under the house." Toast stated as he crawled back into the storage space and then pulled out a metal box. "Do you know what this is?" he asked.

"It's a foot locker."

"Is it yours?"

"No, it's too old to be mine. Why? Where did you find it?"

"Under the floor boards in the study. Just beneath where your father would have been shot. His desk is over the spot but this was a secret compartment you couldn't access from the dugout, but you can tell where it is from down there if you know what you are looking for. It's enclosed between the floor joists and not as deep as the joist so that it's practically invisible if you are just scanning the beams under the house."

"Is there anything in it?" Steve asked.

"We haven't really looked through it yet because we've been busy with other things like the fact that your security system is inadequate and your panic room was a joke. It was distracting. I couldn't work knowing how unsafe it was in here." Toast explained.

"That's because that wasn't a panic room it was just a storage cupboard."

"Well, not anymore." Toast stated and slapped Steve's hand away from the foot locker. "That can wait. We have more important things to discuss. Jerry, find the attic and investigate." Toast ordered and handed Jerry a home made device that Steve was sure would blow the house up if it was handled incorrectly. "Steve follow me." Toast added and crawled back into the storage space under the stairs.

"Can't I just say out here?" Steve asked but was pulled inside by the overly excited and strangely serious hacker. "Where did all my stuff go?"

"The girly room on the second floor." Toast answered as he sat cross-legged in front of a bunch of flashing monitors. "P.S. you owe me for this new system."

"I didn't ask for a new system or a panic room. I just wanted my storage space under the stairs."

"Do you know who you are and how dangerous it is to be you? To live alone, as you do?" Toast asked and there was aggravation in his tone. "You're being so careless."

"I know who I am, Toast." Steve huffed.

"You'll be thanking me when you see what this baby can do. I have a few other plans for the panic room, in general, but for now I amped up your security system. I've installed cameras onto your front entrance, back entrance and second story balcony in the event of an air strike."

"An Air Strike?" Steve asked skeptically.

"Hey, Danny told me all about General Pak and Nick Taylor. Don't tell me that that balcony isn't a weak point to access this house."

"Okay, maybe just a little." Steve admitted.

"Now, however, you can have eyes on all of the exits as well as within the house at the push of a button. They don't have to run constantly, all though outside I'd leave those running to see who comes around here. Also, I've added new dead bolt locks to all your doors on the house perimeter and windows. You can electronically lock them from here and from your phone. By the time I'm done, you're house will be a smart house with direct connections to all your devices with a command centre in the panic room. Jerry's also got a guy who is building you a new door for the panic room and the dugout. We will install an escape hatch in the panic room so that if you do get trapped inside by the enemy, you'll have a way out."

Steve stared skeptically at the hacker before him.

"Oh and from what we can tell, aside for the foot locker, nothing else was hidden on the first floor of your house but we got distracted by the lack of security to sweep the rest of the house. We'll get back to that in the next few days. We'll be very thorough."

"So, what you're saying is that you're going to be occupying my house for the next week or so? You are aware that Jerry just moved out?"

"And he's glad he did! He didn't realize your security was so sub-par, but don't worry, I'm fixing that."

"And how much is this renovation going to cost me?"

"What is the price of you life? Can you put a price on safety?" Toast asked and again he snapped at Steve.

"It's priceless."

"Exactly. I'll give you the bill when we've made this house as safe as the safest bunker."

"I found the attic! Someone is a huge pack rat. There is so much stuff up there. It's going to take a while to sift through it all." Jerry stated as he appeared in the door to the storage room turned panic room.

"It's all right, I've convinced Steve to turn his house over to us for the next week at least." Toast stated proudly.

"I feel like I've been press ganged into cooperating with you two."

"It's all for your own good, Steve." Jerry stated. "I mean, look, we already found a mysterious foot locker under the floor. What else is hidden in this place?"

"I want to look in that locker." Steve stated with a sigh and crawled out of the cupboard under the stairs.

"I wouldn't recommend that," Jerry said and stepped in front of Steve. "You should leave that to us and we'll keep you posted if it has anything to do with your father's case. For now, you might want to step out for a while. We'll call you when we're done for the night and you can come back."

"Are you kicking me out of my own house?"

Jerry nodded. "Just for a little while."

Steve huffed, grabbed his keys and stormed out slamming the door behind him.

"Good thing your electronics are shock resistant." Jerry stated when Steve was gone as he popped his head into the cupboard once more.

"He'll thank us later. Shall we get to that foot locker, or is the attic more exciting?"

"Foot locker, dinner, then attic."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Toast said as he crawled back out of the panic room and closed the door behind him. "He really should call it the cupboard under the stairs. It gives it a little more whimsy!"


End file.
